Neat Little Tricks Are Good to Know

[SC_Hoaty]

As long as I'm posting on this "neat tricks" thread, here's one to try on your next dive.

When a diver does that really annoying, useless and potentially damaging technique of blowing out their reg cap by turning on the air, sneak up next to them and open your own valve full force next to their ear. You can tell them anything, such as "I was just cleaning out your ears for you" or "I am just taking your annoying technique and "paying it forward" or "oops sorry that was an accident".

They may not stop the annoying behavior but they just might think twice about it.

 

[txapacheguy]

In the classes my wife and I took they also taught students to blow dry the reg dust covers with a blast of air. It's no problem on the beach, but in close quarters on a boat with 37 other divers it can be annoying. Thing is, it's actually easier for me just to use a rag, t-shirt or towel.

Agreed. Thanks for contributing!!! I have only been on a couple of dive boats. We tried to be conscientious of the others with regards to this issue. We always have a towel or two apiece with us in such situations, so that will probably become my new dust cap drying device while in close quarters with other divers. Short of damaging somebody's hearing or scaring them and making them drop something, I still do not see the damaging aspect...

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Agreed. Thanks for contributing!!! I have only been on a couple of dive boats. We tried to be conscientious of the others with regards to this issue. We always have a towel or two apiece with us in such situations, so that will probably become my new dust cap drying device while in close quarters with other divers. Short of damaging somebody's hearing or scaring them and making them drop something, I still do not see the damaging aspect...

You need to understand the Idoc. He did say "potentially damaging." (eardrums maybe? Or blow away an o-ring?) Run his comments through a decent sarcasm filter, and it translates to something like "noisy, annoying, and it may not actually dry the dust cap - but it sure does make the offending diver feel like he is an experienced pro!"

Some folks have a lot more finesse on the valve handle, and know how to crack it enough to blow out the seawater and not exhaust 400 psi in the process. Or they know how to use a towel.

 

[Quero]

I have done a bit of travel over the last few years. About half the time, I have come down with a cold 2-3 days after stepping off the airplane. This is a major bummer on dive vacations.

I have talked to doctors and done a lot of research on this, and the most common advice I get is that we mostly catch colds because we touch something with cold virus on it, and then we touch our face, and the germs squiggle into our lips or eyes or nose, and BOOM - three days later we come down with a cold.

So, last time I traveled I imagined that every surface was glowing bright red, pulsating with germs. I had wet wipes in my pockets. I washed my hands. I boarded the plane and didn't touch anything. When I sat down I used the wet wipes to wipe the table and armrests. I never touched a magazine or a door handle.

And I never caught a cold. YAY!

I travel back and forth three to four times a year between Asia and the Americas (6 to 8 one-ways, each with 2 to 4 segments), and I can attest that these trips are long and grueling (it usually takes me 36-42 hours between my home and my hotel outbound, for example). I agree that it's always good to have clean hands to avoid picking up bugs, but that's not all we can do on longhaul flights to guard against infection. I find that hydration is at least as important as cleanliness. When nasal and throat passages become overly dry, the skin can get minute cracks in it that facilitate the entry of airborne microbes. Also, even when you do everything "right" there's still maybe a 1/3 chance you'll pick up an infection simply due to travel fatigue and lowered resistance, so anything you can do to get enough sleep (while keeping in mind hydration) during the trip is good. I get sick about 75% of the time on longhaul trips if I have to travel in economy since I simply cannot sleep sitting up; I get sick only about 25% of the time if I can get an upgrade to a business class seat in which I can at least nap.

So I'd add two things to your tip for a total of three:
1) keep your hands clean
2) hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
3) sleep or nap as much as you can during the trip

 

[Quero]

When a diver does that really annoying, useless and potentially damaging technique of blowing out their reg cap by turning on the air, sneak up next to them and open your own valve full force next to their ear.

While I'm the first to concede that I don't have much sense of humor and tend to take statements literally, and regardless of whether you meant this as sarcasm, wit, or whatever, I find this a really bad "tip."

Although I spend a fair amount of time on dive boats and certainly get irritated at this blast-it-dry method of cleaning the dust cap because it can, in fact, cause hearing loss, I would never blast air near somebody's ear or even jokingly suggest that anyone else do it. (I'm more than a little surprised that any medical professional would do so.) I would instead try to explain ways and reasons for choosing an alternative method of drying off the dust cap.

I admit that I do not possess a great deal of diving experience, but please explain to me why it is useless and potentially damaging to dry your reg cap by using compressed air from your tank. I concede that it could be considered slightly annoying if you were to turn the air on excessively or unexpectedly around other divers.

This is a technique my wife and I were taught during our initial open water training, and one that I regularly see recreational divers use when preparing regulators for storage following a dive.

What technique do you recommend to ensure your dust cap is dry prior to storing the regulator?

Please do not take my question as an insult, trolling, or anything of the sort. I would like to learn, and if there is a reason and a better technique, I will learn from this, modify my future behavior, and share that knowledge with others...

It's actually a good question, and you've got some useful follow-up replies as to alternative drying methods. But let me add a little to the replies in response to the "reason" part of your question. There are a couple of explanations for why it's not a great idea to blast air on your dust cap. The primary one is that it's noisy, and the high-decibel sound can damage sensitive nerves in the ear, causing temporary tinnitus or worse. It just makes sense to protect yourself and those around you from unnecessarily loud noises. Secondly, you can actually force sea water into your first stage unintentionally by blasting air near it. The dust cap doesn't need to be bone dry in order to protect the regs, so there's really no need to blast every molecule of water off it.

Yes, there are still lots of instructors out there who suggest this blasting method, but AFAIK, it is not an official part of any scuba course curriculum. It's just a misguided tip that keeps getting perpetuated.

In the classes my wife and I took they also taught students to blow dry the reg dust covers with a blast of air. It's no problem on the beach, but in close quarters on a boat with 37 other divers it can be annoying. Thing is, it's actually easier for me just to use a rag, t-shirt or towel.

Actually, you can damage your own ears by doing this, even on a beach. Your alternatives, though, are spot on! Use a handy piece of cloth, or if you don't have one, just pucker up and blow off the water droplets with your own breath.

 

[inthehole]

Instead of using spit in your mask you can always try baby shampoo no tears it is the best it works for nascar helmets as well as masks and it wont hurt your eyes. When I dive I can always reach my tank valve but that could be due to my arm length being that im 6'3".

divingcheap.blogspot.com

 

[Mike Boswell]

I get sick about 75% of the time on longhaul trips if I have to travel in economy since I simply cannot sleep sitting up; I get sick only about 25% of the time if I can get an upgrade to a business class seat in which I can at least nap.

So I'd add two things to your tip for a total of three:
1) keep your hands clean
2) hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
3) sleep or nap as much as you can during the trip

Wow, 75%!!! I was batting about 50% and I thought I was the only one.

I guess that explains why so many people spent money on "Airborne", including me - I was desperate to try anything!

They usually give us plenty to drink on the flights, but drinking more means peeing more, which means more hassle and more contact with things.

I too was never able to sleep on an airplane, but before our last flight to Fiji I bought one of those inflatable horseshoe neck collar pillows at Walmart, and once I figured out how to use it, I slept like a baby and woke up rested and ready to go. Now my wife wants one.

 

[kanonfodr]

I too was never able to sleep on an airplane, but before our last flight to Fiji I bought one of those inflatable horseshoe neck collar pillows at Walmart, and once I figured out how to use it, I slept like a baby and woke up rested and ready to go. Now my wife wants one.

Ditto on the horseshoe pillow: best $6 I have ever spent on travel.

Peace,
Greg

 

[bleeb]

I too was never able to sleep on an airplane, but before our last flight to Fiji I bought one of those inflatable horseshoe neck collar pillows at Walmart, and once I figured out how to use it, I slept like a baby and woke up rested and ready to go. Now my wife wants one.

Be aware that, IIRC a few people have had strangulation problems with their inflatable horseshoe pillows when the airplane decompressed, and that as a result, some airlines ban them. Compressible foam or rectangular inflatables avoid this issue, although they tend to be bulkier and/or don't support the head as well.

 

[idocsteve]

While I'm the first to concede that I don't have much sense of humor and tend to take statements literally, and regardless of whether you meant this as sarcasm, wit, or whatever, I find this a really bad "tip."

Although I spend a fair amount of time on dive boats and certainly get irritated at this blast-it-dry method of cleaning the dust cap because it can, in fact, cause hearing loss, I would never blast air near somebody's ear or even jokingly suggest that anyone else do it. (I'm more than a little surprised that any medical professional would do so..

I'm just sharing ideas that work for me. An added benefit may be inadvertant removal of ear wax loosened during the preceding dive.

I admit that I do not possess a great deal of diving experience, but please explain to me why it is useless and potentially damaging to dry your reg cap by using compressed air from your tank.

I have read that doing so may force water into the first stage which can cause damage. Also it can simply be a matter of timing. If you annoy the 250 lb guy standing next to you that just got served with divorce papers from a cheating spouse, you may become the target for his displaced aggression and you may suffer facial damage.